Acer iconia vs Ipad2

[MichelleB]

I am looking into a tablet for my husband for father's day -- the budget is an issue so not open ended funds. I went and looked at both these models at Best Buy last night. I am so torn. I then went and signed up for consumer reports and they say the acer is the better value. I can get a 32GB Acer for $489 but the Ipad would be $599. The Acer has a USB port which makes that appealing plus it's android. Yet the Ipad is lighter and the battery lasts up to 2 hours longer. Ipad doesn't use flash but the Acer will. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone have the Acer and can tell me if you're happy with it?

 

[ToyStory Fan]

I have the Motorola XOOM and my brother has the Ipad2. Not totally off from your comparison, but 32gb android vs ipad2.

I happen to be an android person (have droid x phone) my brother is iphone guy.

Both will work well equally well for certain things and both will have areas that they are superior than the other. It all comes down to what are you planning on using it for. The 2 hour battery life thing...ehh - not a show stopper when you are looking at 8+ hours of usage on a single charge. If it is that big a concern a $20 car charger or additional charger to take with you will solve that issue.

Are they both WiFi only? On the Ipad you need to jail break your phone to tether to a wireless (cellphone) connection, on the Acer I am assuming it is like my XOOM, you can Bluetooth tether it to another device and use that device's data plan to connect when you are not in a WiFi hotspot.

How do they compare from a size/weight perspective? I hear the Acer is one of the heaviest out there... What types of cases and accessories are aavailable for the Acer? (not exactly a mainstream item so cases and stands may be somewhat limited) Also the USB port for now is limited in functionality (more an OS issue than a tablet issue) - Not sure about the microSD card yet also...my understanding was this was a OS issue on the XOom as well. There also is no Facebook App for Honeycomb yet...mine (Facebook app, not my Xoom) constantly crashes.

If you need Flash support for web browsing etc, then go Android - hands down winner.

There are fewer true Android 3.0 apps available right now, but again depends on what you need the tablet for. Alot of apps come out for Ipad first then quickly make their way to android, but that is changing I think

Also - I see the acer for $449.98 at Staples...not 489. I think for that price it is probably a really good deal...I got my Xoom at Sams Club for $579 so still 100 bucks more than deal you are getting on the Acer.

Trying not to be too biased towards my android choice and give you good info, but honestly I don't think either is a bad choice.

 

[MichelleB]

Thanks for the info! Actually Costco has the Acer 32GB for $489 so I felt the $40 was worth it to double the space. I think I'm going to order the Acer through Costco. They've got a 90 day return policy so he can try it out and see what he thinks. If he doesn't like it, then we can return it and get the Ipad2. It's just hard to know which to get since it's not something I'll use for myself and he's waffling between android and ipad. Thank you again!